In the fashion and design industry, it is common to decorate clothes, handbags or other accessories with gemstones. It is essential to the application of the gemstones that at least part of the gemstone surface is provided with adhesive, and that the gemstones are directly applied. However, if it is intended to provide large areas with a multitude of gemstones, or if the gemstones are very small and difficult to handle, it is extremely cumbersome and also expensive to apply the gemstones manually, for example, with liquid hotmelt adhesive, and to attach them at the desired place.
To avoid these problems, it is known to attach the gemstones first to a transfer medium and then to apply the latter to a piece of clothing or fashion accessory. In EP 1 295 984 A2, a film coated with a hotmelt adhesive is shown, wherein glass beads and faceted glass elements are impressed into the molten layer in large areas on the film. The disadvantage is that such films provided with gemstones can be applied only to objects having an essentially planar surface. In addition, the film itself can prove visually less appealing, or to be difficult to attach to the respective object.
EP 2 135 749 shows a decorative element with a multitude of gemstones provided on an elongate support body. The gemstones are applied to the support body through a pouring device, after the support body has been provided with an adhesive layer. It is disadvantageous that the gemstones, which often have a sharp corner, end up on the support body disorderly, and in part also in several layers on top of one another. Thus, a covering with gemstones is not possible without the gemstones touching each other in the attached state and may be damaged when the support body is moved. On the one hand, this is considered unaesthetic, and on the other, a poor adhesion and a roughness that feels uncomfortable are associated with it. In addition, the protruding sharp corners of the gemstones present a potentially increased risk of injury.
DE 42 18 498 A1 discloses a gemstone made of a thermoplastic material to be applied to sheet textiles, such as garments and bags, by adhesive bonding, wherein said bonding is effected by a thermally activatable adhesive that can be combined with a thermoblocker.
It is the object of the invention to provide a decorative element comprising a multitude of gemstones held by an adhesive layer that avoids the above mentioned drawbacks and enlarges the field of application of the above inventions. The invention further relates to a process for producing the decorative element according to the invention.